AI experts not saving for retirement because they expect the machines to kill us

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Certain artificial intelligence researchers are no longer investing in their retirement accounts because they expect AI to kill us all by the time they would retire. That’s what two of the leading AI safety researchers said in recent interviews with The Atlantic.

“I just don’t expect the world to be around,” said Nate Soares, president of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, when asked about contributing to his 401(k).

According to The Atlantic, it’s a sentiment shared by Dan Hendrycks, director of the Center for AI Safety. Hendrycks told the publication that by the time he’d be ready to tap into his retirement, he expects a world in which “everything is fully automated.”

“If we’re around,” he added.

Both Soares and Hendrycks lead nonprofits trying to prevent AI from wiping out humanity. The head-spinning acceleration of AI buy-in and adoption from investors, government, and industry has them both increasingly sounding more and more fatalistic.

“We’ve run out of time,” Soares told The Atlantic.

“We’re two years away from something we could lose control over,” Max Tegmark, an MIT professor and president of the Future of Life Institute, another technology-monitoring nonprofit, told the publication.

The idea of an AI going rogue and wiping out humanity may sound like the stuff of science fiction. However, the technology has already shown itself to be ready to cross its human handlers if it feels it’s in its own interest.

In June, San Francisco-based AI firm Anthropic conducted an experiment in which it stress-tested 16 leading AI models. The test revealed that AI platforms were willing to resort to blackmail and even letting people die to avoid being shut down.

Whether AI is going to wipe out humanity or not, one thing is certain and that’s that the technology has stormed its way into our lives at an astonishing pace. It’s upset the job market, sent the stock market skyrocketing, and revitalized San Francisco’s burnished reputation as a technology boom town.

Although, lately, there are a few signs that the air may be letting out of the bubble. One recent report revealed that of the companies that have implemented generative AI into their business practices, 95% have seen zero return.

Facebook parent company, Meta, meanwhile, has reportedly hit the brakes on AI hires after spending hundreds of millions earlier this summer in a mad trolley dash to lure top AI talent.

Even ChatGTP CEO Sam Altman, for many the face of the nascent technology, has admitted that we’re in a bit of an AI bubble.

Despite these setbacks, the Trump administration’s laissez-faire attitude toward AI makes it seem unlikely that any meaningful guardrails are likely to be implemented any time soon.